Salvage the Bones by J. Ward

Everyone knows there's no tying in baseball and that each year the Pulitzer Prize is given out to the best work of fiction.  Oh wait, Selig, the Commissioner of Baseball called a tie in an All Star game, and, this year there was no Pulitzer awarded for fiction.  Ms. Ward's heart wrenching novel was awarded the National Book award but I am now awarding it the Pulitzer Prize in fiction (even if it was from 2011.)  I have not been so drawn to a heroine, Esch, where I wanted to wrap my arms around her and protect her. Esch is the only female in a dirt poor household of males as her beloved mother died in childbirth with her younger brother.  The novel is set in MI over the 12 days leading to the destruction of Katrina.  Esch's older brother, Skeetah, is another amazing character who cares for his pit bull China with a boundless love.  Esch compares herself & Skeetah to Medea & Jason for good reason and to great effect.  Esch's prose reminds me of Huck Finn's innocent yet beautiful descriptions.  In describing her surroundings she says "...the detritus in the yard: refrigerators rusted so that they look like deviled eggs sprinkled with paprika." This is a book of our times and one destined to be a classic for all times.